


Sacrifice

by missbloom



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Minor Character Death, Please Don't Hate Me, takes place after 11.09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 07:10:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbloom/pseuds/missbloom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel sacrifices himself to save Sam from the Cage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> I'm posting this from my phone so sorry for any mistakes or weird formatting (like lack of italics), I'll fix it later. Also I've never written Lucifer before so I'm sorry if he's OOC.

His eyes burned trying to hold back the tears and the lump in his throat hurt so bad that he could hardly stand it.

 

Sam and Dean weren't here, he didn't know where they were. The brothers had been bickering about something this morning but Cas hadn't felt up to it to leave his room and investigate the shouts.

 

Binge watching Netflix while snuggled deep into the blankets of his bed was his new normal. After Gaza, he hadn't left his room for days.

 

It was like he wasn't even in the Bunker. The brothers never bothered to check on him, ask how he was doing, see if he needed anything. And Cas felt too ashamed to ask for help, ask why he was feeling so hollow and unloved and useless.

 

So many nights he choked on his tears, the pain too much for him to bear. The Winchesters didn't need him. Who was he, a mediocre angel of the Lord, to the vast and daunting Darkness? Amara, an entity created before the angels had even been a thought in God's mind.

 

A thunderous crash from the library pulled Cas out of his own mind; Sam and Dean weren't here, so who...?

 

He was halfway down the hall when Dean called out for him, a desperate noise that Cas hadn't heard in a long time. Something was wrong. Dean needed help.

 

But Cas didn't care.

 

Freezing on the spot, he spun around and hurried back towards his room, speeding up when he heard Dean entering the hall behind him, “Cas! Oh, man, I need your help, Sammy, he--”

 

Dean had caught up by then and put a hand on Cas’ shoulder to spin him around, but he hadn't expected the angel to slap his hand away, “No.”

 

Taken aback would have been the best way to describe Dean's face. He retreated further when he sensed the anger bubbling out of the man before him.

 

“No. I am done being used, Dean. You only seek my presence when one of you need help, and I am sick of it.”

 

“Dude, what the hell are you talking about?”

 

Cas practically snarled as he stepped closer, Dean's back hitting the wall. “I have been held up in my room for days at a time and neither one of you have even bothered to ask if I am okay.”

 

“..... are you okay?”

 

The shout Castiel let out shook Dean down to his bones, the lights in the hallway flickering. The hunter flinched when Cas’ fist slammed into the wall beside his head.

 

“I have panic attacks so bad that I lay gasping in the corner of my room for hours, praying for something, anything, to take away the pain that has been tearing me apart ever since Rowena removed that God damn spell! How the fuck do you think I am, Dean!”

 

Wide green eyes darted across the face just inches from his, true fear causing his mouth to run dry. Dean licked his lips, “Cas, I'm so sorry, I didn't know. We've been so busy, we just--”

 

“Forgot about me? Because that's what it feels like.”

 

Cas finally took a step back, jaw clenched tight. His eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks damp.

 

“Please, Cas. I'm sorry. And I swear on my life I will make it up to you,” Dean felt the man's fingers twitch when he grabbed on to his wrist, “but you've just got to help me one last time. Please.”

 

Curse the Winchesters for being Castiel’s weak spot. He hated himself for doing this, but he couldn't just let the only family he knew suffer, even if they hardly treated him the way he knew he deserved.

 

Taking a breath, Cas turned his head to Dean and growled out, “What is it you need?”

 

“It's Sam. You know those visions he's been having?”

 

“What? No.”

 

“Oh, well he's been having these vision things, and he thinks they're from God--”

 

“God?”

 

“Yeah. Flashes of the Cage, I guess? Anyway, he's there with Rowena and Crowley right now, and fuck, Cas, Lucifer tricked him and now he's in the cage with Lucifer which was not supposed to happen and I don't know what to do, man. You've been to the cage, right? You know how to get Sam out? ... Cas?”

 

Dean's stomach twisted, his heart beating a million miles per hour. He could see the gears turning in Cas’ head and knew what was coming.

 

Backing up, Dean held up his hands before him defensively, “I know, it was a dumb thing to do.”

 

“You what?”

 

“Cas, please don't be mad, okay? We fucked up, I know, but--”

 

Dean was up against the wall again, but this time there was an angel blade pressed to his throat. Cas was losing it, shouting at him about the cage and about Lucifer, wondering how they could have been so stupid to think that this wasn't just some kind of trick and now the Devil himself was this close to being set free, again. All Dean could do was nod or shake his head, fear keeping his eyes squeezed shut and rendering him speechless.

 

And now Cas was quizzing him about what the hell he was thinking, about how he could have not let him know all this as it happened, but the angel blade had moved and now was pointed up under Dean’s chin and he was seriously terrified that Cas was going to kill him, he had never seen him this angry.

 

When he felt just a pinprick of pain underneath his chin, Dean found his voice and started begging like he had never begged before, knees weak and hands trying to find some sort of hold against the the wall. “Please don't kill me, please, Cas, please! I'm sorry! Please, I'll go find someone else to help, but please, just don't kill me!”

 

“I could never kill you, Dean, but God, do I want to right now.” The blade was replaced by the brief touch of two of Cas’ fingers, heat soaking into his jaw as the miniscule cut was healed.

 

Still afraid for his life, Dean didn’t dare follow as Cas disappeared into his room.

 

“I'm sorry, Dean.”

 

Now it was Dean's turn to clench his jaw, but damn, did he deserve this, “Look, man, it's fine, okay? You just... stay here and I'll go find someone else. It's cool. I don't deserve your help, after the way I've treated you.”

 

“You're damn right, but that's not what I meant.” Cas stepped out from his room, now in his trench coat. “I meant I'm sorry for this.”

 

Dean flattened himself up against the wall again when Cas reached out to him, placing two fingers on his forehead, “What--”

 

“Goodbye, Dean.”

 

The hunter let out a sharp cry as a searing pain flashed through his brain, his body sinking to the floor. The pain vanished as soon as it appeared, but it left his head throbbing. Rubbing his eyes, Dean was able to pry them open just in time to see a tall man in a brown trench coat disappear from his clouded view.

 

***

 

Cas knew what he was doing was drastic, but it had to be done.

 

Some of the people he visited stared at him in awe and he was able to do his job easily. Some put up a fight, but none of them were strong enough to stop him.

 

It didn't take him long to wipe everyone that had knowledge of his existence from their minds, and soon enough he was on his way to Hell.

 

The first thing Castiel did when he found where Sam was being held at was kill Crowley. The King of Hell didn't even see it coming; one second he was arguing with his mother and the next there was an angel blade through his chin.

 

Spinning to a shocked Rowena, Cas clasped a hand around her throat before she could utter a single word, let alone a spell.

 

“Cassy! What a joy it is to see you, baby brother.”

 

Ignoring Satan, Cas tightened his grip, “Get Sam out.” The woman shook her head. “Now.”

 

“Let her go, Castiel, this wasn't her doing. This was all me.” Thunder and lightning erupted at his words, “Join me, brother, so we can chat!”

 

One blink and Cas was in the cage with Lucifer and Sam, the later with his back pressed in the corner and scared for his life. Cas felt an ache go through him, seeing a flash of Dean from before in his place. “Let him go, Lucifer, please.”

 

“Now why would I do something as silly as that? I just got my roommate back!” Lucifer slung his arm around Sam's shoulders and ran his knuckles back and forth atop his head; Sam was petrified, body tensed and on edge.

 

“Tell me what I have to do for you to let him go.”

 

“Cas. Cas Cas Cas. Are you trying to make a deal with me?”

 

“Cas, no.”

 

The angels ignored Sam, who was now free of Lucifer's grip and once again pressed against the side of the Cage as far away from the devil as he could be.

 

“Do you know how to defeat the Darkenss?”

 

“Mmm, maybe. You see, the three of them came marching down here thinking they knew exactly what they were doing, that they were holding the reins to this here rodeo, but boy, were they wrong.

 

“This witch,” Rowena squeaked at her mention but didn't pause as she made quick work of gathering her things to flee, “had the boys falling for her trap, hook, line, and sinker.” 

 

Both Sam and Castiel squinted over at the woman as she backed towards the pathway out, “Yeah, sorry about that. I'll be out of your hair now, though. Good luck, Samuel. And it was an honor to meet you, your royal highness.”

 

Lucifer gave a small bow, “Until we meet again, fair maiden.” Cas could have sworn Rowena was blushing before she turned and took off, leaving the boys alone in the cage.

 

“Anyway, where were we? Oh, right. Yeah, I'm not going to be of any use to you defeating the Darkness from down here. And that's what I've been trying to tell Sammy, but he just. won't. listen.”

 

“You are not using me as your meatsuit, Lucifer. End of story. My brother will find another way to defeat her.”

 

“Is that what you want, a vessel?”

 

“Cas, don't you dare--”

 

“Take mine, then, and let Sam go.”

 

“Cas, no!”

 

Lucifer spun to look at his brother, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, “Really? You would do that for me?”

 

“No!”

 

Lucifer rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist, removing Sam from inside the cage and depositing him back on the outside, “Stay out of this, Sam, this is angel business.”

 

“Like hell it is! I'm not going to let Cas sacrifice himself for me! I got myself into this mess, it's not up to him to get me out!”

 

Lucifer turned his head from Sam to Cas, waiting to the other's response.

 

“Sam, please, I...” Cas took a deep breath, hands clenching into fists, “There's nothing left for me up there. You and your brother have made that painfully clear.”

 

The devil took a step back, wanting to watch this one play out.

 

Sam’s face showed him mentally sputtering, trying to piece together what his friend was saying. “... Cas, come on! What about Metatron? And the demon tablet? We still have that shit to take care of, too! And Christ, Dean, he... he's gonna kill me for saying this, but he loves you, Cas, and hell, I do too. You’re family. You’re... you’re my brother. You don't have to do this.”

 

Cas had closed his eyes at the mention of Dean, his heart ripping in half all over again. He could feel hot tears running down his face, but he paid them no mind. “It's too late, Sam.”

 

“No, it's not. Just let me back in there, and you can go up to Dean and find a way to fix this--”

 

“I erased his mind, he doesn't remember me.”

 

Even Lucifer gaped at that, muttering a ‘woah’.

 

Cas kept his eyes turned away from Sam, knowing the heartbreak he'd see there. “And I want you to do that to him, too, Lucifer. Make sure he doesn't remember me. I already took care of everyone else.”

 

“Sure, Cas... damn...”

 

“Cas, no. Please. Please.”

 

“Goodbye, Sam.”

 

“Cas!”

 

Lucifer put his hand on his brother's shoulders as he watched his essence float out of his body. A bright blue ball of light, not unlike an angel's Grace. It floated higher in the cage, hovering over the lifeless vessel it once possessed as Lucifer lowered it to the ground.

 

Sam was at the bars to the cage now, rattling them and screaming at the men to stop, but no one was listening to him. Lucifer looked up at the boy with a smirk before dissolving into a similar ball of light as the one above, but instead of blue, it was a yellowish white.

 

Into Cas’ body it went, and a few seconds later the body gasped, sucking in air. But that was not Castiel. That was Lucifer.

 

Sam backed up from the cage, blinking the tears out of his eyes as he watched the blue ball of light that was Castiel float off into the stormy sky of Hell.

 

“Goodbye, little bro. And thank you.” Lucifer spoke from Castiel’s body, the voice the same but then again oh so different.

 

“No...”

 

“Yes.” Lucifer snapped his fingers and was now outside of the cage, standing before Sam. “That thing had so many loopholes, and I was just waiting to find the right one."

 

Sam stumbled back, "What happen to your vessel, Lucifer? How come it just vanished?"

"It was an illusion. And you know why? Because the last time I got banished to the cage, I was inside someone else." Lucifer poked Sam's chest, indicating him. "Now come ‘ere, I've got some erasing to do.”

 

“No!”

 

“Don't be such a baby. Don't forget, I'm a celestial being, Sam--really? You seriously think you can outrun me?”

 

Lucifer popped out of thin air right before Sam and immediately placed his fingers to the man's forehead, “Say bye-bye to Cassy...”

 

Sam gave a cry before slumping to the ground, unconscious. Looking back and forth from him to the path out they still had to take, Lucifer swore, “well, shit.”

 

Lucifer bent and worked Sam into his arms, grunting as he hoisted him up, his lanky body spilling everywhere, “Fucking moose, can't believe I have to carry your ass out of here...”

 

***

 

Dean looked up at the groan of the Bunker door, Sam stumbling inside. “Sammy!” The older Winchester flew up the stairs to meet his brother, hands running over his face, arms, to check for any damage. “How... how did you get out?”

 

“I have no clue, Rowena maybe? Not Crowley, though, he's dead.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“I don't know, Dean. Again, it was probably Rowena.”

 

“Her own son?”

 

Sam shrugged, “She's most likely going to take over the throne now.”

 

“Great, a witch as the Queen of Hell. This should be fun.”

 

“Yeah... hey, um, do... do you feel like we're forgetting something? Something kind of important?”

 

A pause as Dean pondered the question, “Now that you mention it, yeah. Hm.”

 

Both boys stood there a moment with furrowed brows, searching their minds, before Dean shook his head, “Yeah, I've got nothing.”

 

“Me neither. It'll come to us later.”

 

“Yeah, probably. Now come on, let's go get a beer and you can tell me all about Hell...”

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this fic encompasses two theories I thought of; Cas erasing the Winchester's minds, and Cas sacrificing himself to save Sam (which was based on Misha's comments from Brazil about Cas feeling "unloved" and that he's "going to make a deal with the Devil.") The mind erasure thing is far fetched and I don't expect that to happen at all, but the sacrifice.... I guess we'll see January 20th.


End file.
